HOUSTON – The Houston Astros introduced the club's newest acquisition Sunday, six-time All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander.
The Astros orchestrated a last-minute deal with the Detroit Tigers on Thursday to acquire the right-hander and bolster their rotation as they eye a deep playoff run in October. Verlander is set to make his first start for the Astros on Tuesday.
"The opportunity to come play for a championship caliber team for not only this year, but for the remainder of my contract is ultimately what it really came down to," Verlander said at Sunday's introductory press conference.
General manager Jeff Luhnow said they'd been trying to get Verlander to Houston since late July, but weren't able to pull it off until just before the deadline for having players eligible for postseason play.
The trade gives the American League West leaders a powerful 1-2-3 punch at the top of their rotation with 2015 Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers pairing with Verlander, who won the AL Cy Young and MVP awards in 2011.
"Justin Verlander is hands-down the best possible outcome that we could have had last night going into September," manager A.J. Hinch said. "By the responses of our team we couldn't be more excited to get him here, get him into our culture and see where he can help take us."
Verlander is a playoff veteran, having appeared in the postseason five times. He is 7-5 with a 3.39 ERA and 112 strikeouts in 16 career starts in the playoffs.
The 34-year-old Verlander is 10-8 with a 3.82 ERA in 28 starts this season.
Officially, official. pic.twitter.com/ZmDWwdWLdn
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 3, 2017
In return, the Tigers got minor league prospects outfielder Daz Cameron, right-hander Franklin Perez and catcher Jake Rogers, as well as a player to be named later or cash.
The Tigers drafted Verlander in 2004 with the No. 2 overall pick. He won Rookie of the Year honors in 2006, when Detroit came out of nowhere to win the American League pennant.
He led the AL with 19 wins in 2009, but his finest season came in 2011, when he went 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA. He also threw his second career no-hitter that season and led the Tigers to their first of four consecutive AL Central titles.
Verlander has been great lately after starting the season slower than usual, going 4-1 with a 2.36 ERA in six starts in August.
The Astros beat the Mets twice Saturday in their first games played at home since the area was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey.
"Hopefully we can bring a championship to a city that really could use something like that right now," Verlander said. "Hopefully I can be a part of that and we can give this city something to rally around."
